OUR MINERALS.

Hokitika Guardian, 18 January 1922, Page 3

OUR MINERALS.

UNDEVELOPED TREASURES. TRANSPORT FACILITIES.. WELLINGTON, Jan. 15. The manager of the Anglo-Scottish Finance Corporation, Limited, Mr John Matthews, who is at present in New Zealand for the purpose of advising his principals on the prospects of the prospects of the profitable employment of their capital in the development of gold and other minerals in the Dominion painted in glowing terms the potentialities of the mining industry in an interview.

EMPIRE MIXING DEVELOPMENT

“ The present economic position of the Empire compels us to review our resources with a view to the speedingup of the development of its immenso mineral deposits. In this connection the attention of investors at lloulc is being focussed oil New Zealand; whose potential mineral wealth is beyond the dreams of avarice. It is becoming more generally realised that Britain must initiate fresh enterprises and industries for the development of the Dominions. Many of those enterprise-; have already been established, founded on ore and metal winning, which cannot hut favourably react on the mining industry generally. A REWARD FOR ENTERPRISE. “I have had a long and intimate association with the mining industry in New Zealand, and am, therefore, in a position to presold a fair and comprehensive statement of what has been accomplished in the past, and to denote where combinations of capital, labour, professional skill and experience, and business capacity may secure the rewards of enterprise in the future. Nature lias been generous with her mineral gifts to New Zealand. The economic place of mining in the history of New Zealand is a large one, for the discovery of gold and other minerals has had an important effect on the prosperity of the country, and has stimulated pioneering enterprises in the const lands and the rich gold-hearing interior. THE DESIRE FOR MINING BOOM. “There is no desire for what is termed a ‘mining boom,’ for nothing' has been more disastrous to mining as an industry as the inflation and watering of capital iii gold-mining companies at periods of undue excitement. So long as gold-mining is carried on on the same lines as coal or iron mining, I am of opinion that it is just as legitimate an enterprise, and more likely than most undertakings to give an adequate return on the capital employed. In New Zealand almost every known variety of mineral has been discovered. To ascertain the possibility of producing iron and steel on a commercial scale, quantities of Parapara iron ore and Taranaki iron-sand were sent Home last year, and submitted to an exhaustive test, under the supervision of a recognised iron and steel expert. The results of that test were extremeh favourable. Now, as pig iron can he produced more cheaply in New Zealand than in America, and the iron ore and coal are nuich nearer the seaboard, it is anticipated that this industry will rapidly develop. The real interest in New Zealand mining is less in what it has been oi is, than in what it will he with the extension of railways and roads to the mineralised areas. Hitherto unneardoi gold and mineral fields will demonstrate the possibilities lor profitable investment. The wide distribution of coal and lignite is a material aid to other industries. There are many other minerals —such as copper, antimony, cinnabar, manganese, niieh alu ‘ asbestos. Limestone is distributed over a wide area; sehoehte is lCgulaily exported from Otago and Marlborough; fuller's earth and hematite paint from the Thames; and a variety of grinding and polishing materials in Otago and different parts of the Dominion. These and many others still await the itilioduction of modern methods and some capital for their development; when these are forthcoming, the yield of gold and other minerals will receive an enor-

moils impetus. THE MINERAL AREAS

“Rich mid extensive gold-bearing fields arc likely to develop in the AVostlaiul province if scientifically exploited. The inland country in the fur south is very little known to the prospector, the hulk of the diggers having worked the lieac.h sands. From Capo Farewell to Big Bay there is it stretch of mineral country, hundreds ot miles in extent, with indications of immense wealth, extendino- from the sea coast to the dividing range. The West Coast mineral fields are yet unexplored, but are callable of absorbing an enormous population.

GOLD AND ITS OUTPUT. “ It not infrequently happens that people are heard to say that gold-min-ing is a hazardous undertaking, hut tins is far from being the case with the careful, expert and scientific development to-day. The sum of over C1*2*5011,000 has been paid in dividends Horn I Off mines, with n total authorised capital of less than £4,000,000. The total gold output of the Dominions is £88,730,000.” Mr Matthews quoted from material lie published in a booklet. in London in October last—" The Potential Mineral Wealth oi New Zealand ”--in which he reviewed llm history of gold-mining, the returns of the various companies to date, the application of -science to mining and metallurgy in the Dominion, the nature and quality of the ores available, the percentage of gold discovered, and the methods of working them.